We made a quickie (or so we thought) detour back down to Florida for our oldest to take his Driver’s Permit test. I picked a podunk town just over the border that I hoped wouldn’t have too long of a wait. In Florida there are DMV offices and then there are Tax Collector offices that perform some DMV services. This was the latter.

Florida requires quite a few hoops to jump through for taking the test. First you need to take a course (FLVS offered this course for free) which is advertised at $40. Then you need the certificate from the course, birth certificate (or passport), social security card, both parents present, 2 proofs of residence (for a kid this is nearly impossible but we did have a bank account statement that had just arrived) or 1 proof of residence and an affidavit from parents that he lives where he lives. Then he gets his picture taken, does the eye exam, signs in blood…just kidding, but he did have to sign electronically. Now he gets to take the first test, the road sign test. You need to get 15 out of 20 correct to pass. And then he takes the road rules test, again 15 out of 20 to pass.

HE PASSED!

His permit is now valid for 9 years (!!) during which time he needs to practice driving for 50 hours and at night for 10 hours with a licensed driver over 21 years old.

We had him do his first practice session today learning how to execute a 3 point turn :) We’re so proud of him!

Yesterday we had a bit of engine belt trouble, so after his test we found a mechanic nearby that was referred to us. (Its unbelievably hard to find people to work on gasoline engines!) Which meant heading further south into Florida. We were planning on being in South Carolina by Monday night, but plans change.

We ended up getting the alternator belt replaced, the oil changed, and the full-size spare tire for the toad fixed. We had also hoped to get the windshield replaced, but the quotes we are receiving are nonsense. We’ll spend another day in Lake City then start up the east coast.